Comparison of neptunium sorption results using batch and column techniques

Description

We used crushed-rock columns to study the sorption retardation of neptunium by zeolitic, devitrified, and vitric tuffs typical of those at the site of the potential high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. We used two sodium bicarbonate waters (groundwater from Well J-13 at the site and water prepared to simulate groundwater from Well UE-25p No. 1) under oxidizing conditions. It was found that values of the sorption distribution coefficient, Kd, obtained from these column experiments under flowing conditions, regardless of the water or the water velocity used, agreed well with those obtained earlier from batch sorption experiments under ...
continued below

Publisher

Provided By

UNT Libraries Government Documents Department

Serving as both a federal and a state depository library, the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department maintains millions of items in a variety of formats. The department is a member of the FDLP Content Partnerships Program and an Affiliated Archive of the National Archives.

Contact Us

What

Descriptive information to help identify this report.
Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.

Description

We used crushed-rock columns to study the sorption retardation of neptunium by zeolitic, devitrified, and vitric tuffs typical of those at the site of the potential high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. We used two sodium bicarbonate waters (groundwater from Well J-13 at the site and water prepared to simulate groundwater from Well UE-25p No. 1) under oxidizing conditions. It was found that values of the sorption distribution coefficient, Kd, obtained from these column experiments under flowing conditions, regardless of the water or the water velocity used, agreed well with those obtained earlier from batch sorption experiments under static conditions. The batch sorption distribution coefficient can be used to predict the arrival time for neptunium eluted through the columns. On the other hand, the elution curves showed dispersivity, which implies that neptunium sorption in these tuffs may be nonlinear, irreversible, or noninstantaneous. As a result, use of a batch sorption distribution coefficient to calculate neptunium transport through Yucca Mountain tuffs would yield conservative values for neptunium release from the site. We also noted that neptunium (present as the anionic neptunyl carbonate complex) never eluted prior to tritiated water, which implies that charge exclusion does not appear to exclude neptunium from the tuff pores. The column experiments corroborated the trends observed in batch sorption experiments: neptunium sorption onto devitrified and vitric tuffs is minimal and sorption onto zeolitic tuffs decreases as the amount of sodium and bicarbonate/carbonate in the water increases.